1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to electrophotographic imaging devices such as printers or multifunction devices having printing capability, and more particularly to systems and methods for reincorporating waste toner with fresh toner within a toner cartridge.
2. Description of the Related Art
During the electrophotographic printing process, an electrically charged rotating photoconductive drum is selectively exposed to a laser beam. The areas of the photoconductive drum exposed to the laser beam are discharged creating an electrostatic latent image of a page to be printed on the photoconductive drum. Toner particles are then electrostatically picked up by the latent image on the photoconductive drum creating a toned image on the photoconductive drum. The toned image is transferred to the print media (e.g., paper) either directly by the photoconductive drum in a one-step transfer system or indirectly by an intermediate transfer member in a two-step transfer system. The toner is then fused to the media using heat and pressure to complete the print.
However, not all of the toner picked up by the photoconductive drum is transferred to the print media or intermediate transfer member due to inefficiencies in the image transfer process. Residual toner left on the photoconductive drum after the photoconductive drum has contacted the print media or intermediate transfer member must be removed before the next image is formed in order to avoid contamination of the next image. For this purpose, a cleaner blade or a cleaner brush is placed in contact with the photoconductive drum (and, in a two-step transfer system, the intermediate transfer member) to wipe the residual toner from its surface. The residual toner removed by the cleaner blade or cleaner brush is then stored in a waste toner container. The size of the waste toner container is preferably minimized in order to reduce the overall size of the image forming device.
The image forming device's toner supply is typically stored in one or more toner cartridges that must be replaced periodically to continue to provide toner to the image forming device for printing. In order to ensure optimized performance, it is desirable to communicate conditions of the toner cartridge to the image forming device for proper operation.